Urocortin III

Urocortin III, a 38–41 amino acid peptide, is a member of the CRF (corticotropin-releasing factor), also known as CRH (corticotropin-releasing hormone)[1] family of peptides, with a long evolutionary lineage.[2][3]

Separate chromosomes harboring two exons each are home to the genes encoding UCN, UCN2, and UCN3.[4] A gene on human chromosome 10p15 at location 5.40 Mb encodes the urocortin, UCN III, which has been discovered more recently. A 161 amino acid precursor is produced when the UCN III gene is translated.[5] Mature UCN III with 38 or 41 amino acids would be produced by proteolytic cleavage between arginine- or threonine-lysine residues. Human plasma contains both the 38 and 41 amino acid forms of UCN III, although the 38 amino acid form is more prevalent, according to findings from high-performance liquid chromatography.[2]

Each urocortin peptide has a distinct expression location and function, yet they all share conserved structural similarity.[4] Urocortins' structures, as determined by nuclear magnetic resonance, exhibit alpha-helical secondary structures, which support biological activity and binding selectivity.[6]

  1. ^ Deussing JM, Chen A (October 2018). "The Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Family: Physiology of the Stress Response". Physiological Reviews. 98 (4): 2225–2286. doi:10.1152/physrev.00042.2017. PMID 30109816. S2CID 52008037.
  2. ^ a b Hsu SY, Hsueh AJ (May 2001). "Human stresscopin and stresscopin-related peptide are selective ligands for the type 2 corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor". Nature Medicine. 7 (5): 605–611. doi:10.1038/87936. PMID 11329063. S2CID 22916906.
  3. ^ Wu V, Yuan PQ, Larauche M, Wang L, Million M (January 2013). "Chapter 183 - Urocortins". In Kastin AJ (ed.). Handbook of Biologically Active Peptides (Second ed.). Boston: Academic Press. pp. 1346–1353. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-385095-9.00183-4. ISBN 978-0-12-385095-9.
  4. ^ a b Squillacioti C, Pelagalli A, Liguori G, Mirabella N (October 2019). "Urocortins in the mammalian endocrine system". Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica. 61 (1): 46. doi:10.1186/s13028-019-0480-2. PMC 6778379. PMID 31585551.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lewis_2001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Grace_2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).